Six Flags' Goliath rollercoaster was reportedly closed for maintenance just hours before a teacher was violently flung from the ride.
uncertain
teacher → close → ride
Tina Christiansen and Emily Nguyen told the New York Post they were at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday afternoon and tried to get on the ride at around 1pm – but were told it was closed for maintenance.
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it → tell → maintenance
'They made an announcement over the intercom, first saying, "We're experiencing delays," and then a few minutes later, they said, "We're waiting for maintenance to get here,"' Christiansen recounted.
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Christiansen → make → delays
They were then left waiting to get on the ride and saw an amusement park staffer doing 'a couple of maintenance runs.'
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staffer → leave → runs
'One guy rode it and he was in the front row by himself,' Nguyen said.
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Nguyen → ride → himself
'I remember us looking at each other, like, "You could not pay me enough to do that job."
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You → remember → job
'
'Like, yeah, it's fun to ride rollercoasters, but I wouldn't want to be the one in charge of making sure that they work,' she said.
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she → ride → charge
'We literally had that conversation.'
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We → have → conversation
Just a few hours later, Hassan Kariem, 42, was violently thrown from his seat on the Goliath rollercoaster in front of horrified passengers.
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Kariem → throw → passengers
He struck the ride three times before police found him unresponsive behind a haunted house attraction that had been set up for Halloween, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
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that → strike → scene
Hassan Kariem, 42, died after falling from the Goliath rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday.
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Kariem → die → Monday
Authorities are now investigating exactly what went wrong on the ride, which has been a staple of the theme park since 2006
Four others were also rushed to the hospital in the aftermath for non-life threatening injuries.
Authorities are now investigating exactly what went wrong on the ride, which has been a staple of the theme park since 2006.
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which → investigate → 2006
As part of the investigation, state officials and Cobb County Major Crimes detectives are evaluating the coaster's lap bar restraints, locking mechanisms and computerized safety sensors, Fox 5 reports.
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Fox → evaluate → restraints
Witnesses to the gruesome incident on Monday have said that the restraints on the rollercoaster were making a 'weird clicking' noise – prompting park staff to check the restraints 'multiple times' before the car Kariem was in took off.
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Kariem → say → restraints
Moments later, he was caught in horrific photos falling headfirst over other riders and off of the rollercoaster, as families and small children recoiled in horror.
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families → catch → horror
He was said to have been thrown from his seat on the Goliath ride near the final turn, and he struck the frame of the roller coaster several times on his way to the ground.
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he → say → ground
Logan Conner, a man on the same ride carriage as Kariem, said passengers made 'direct eye contact' with him as he fell head-first out of the roller coaster.
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he → say → coaster
He described Kariem 'levitating' by the side of the track as he fell, before he struck the ride and his blood 'splattered over everybody,' reports WXIA.
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WXIA → describe → everybody
The ride was reportedly closed for maintenance hours before the incident
Riders seen walking down the side of the roller coaster to evacuate following the freak accident on Monday
When Christiansen and Nguyen later returned to the ride, they said they saw a crowd of people and the area near the rollercoaster closed off.
'
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crowd → close → rollercoaster
There was a security guard standing there and I walked up to him and I said, "Hey what happened?"
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what → be → him
thinking it wasn't anything big, I was just curious,' Nguyen said.
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Nguyen → think → ?
'He was like, "I can't tell you," and I realized it must be something really serious for him to say it like that, it was very gruff.'
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it → tell → that
The two friends then noticed that people were crying and saw ambulances arriving at the park, before another parkgoer told them Six Flags was being evacuated because someone fell from Goliath.
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someone → notice → Goliath
'I feel like we dodged a bullet by not being anywhere near when it happened, especially since that's where we were going,' Nguyen said.
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Nguyen → feel → bullet
Six Flags has since closed the Goliath ride and shut down over 10 other rollercoasters across the country 'out of an abundance of caution' in response to the tragedy.
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Flags → close → tragedy
However, the company said Six Flags Over Georgia will re-open on Friday.
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Flags → say → Friday
The theme park was evacuated and closed for several days following the tragedy
Meanwhile, theme park expert Robert Niles told Channel2 that incidents in which a person is flung from a rollercoaster are incredibly rare.
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person → evacuate → rollercoaster
Niles, the editor of ThemeParkInsider.com, told the outlet: 'This wasn’t obviously a case of something wrong with the guest.
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This → tell → guest
This isn’t an incident of somebody being on a coaster who shouldn’t have been on that coaster, given the boarding restrictions or health requirements.
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who → give → restrictions
'This sounds like a freak accident that we will definitely need to get the results from an investigation to fully understand.'
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we → sound → investigation
The Daily Mail has reached out to Six Flags for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
The Aporia
